Rafi

profile says rugged ridge for front bumper

dcharge74

Sorry guys, I forgot to subscribe to my own thread. I got the bumper from Benchmark Designs. The thing that gets me the most is that the damage was more than likely Fed Ex's fault, but I guess it's too much trouble for him to get a hold of them and file a claim. He said he would have it stripped and resprayed, but he wants me to pay for the shipping from Pennsylvania to Washington state. That's not going to happen. This whole ordeal has been a PITA from the beginning. I won't get into it, as there are already more than enough threads going on the topic. I just went out today and picked up some Rustoleum Pro High Performance clean metal primer and High performance flat black enamel. Hopefully it does the trick. I'll post some before and after pics when I'm done. Be patient, it's more than likely going to take more than a few days for me to get this done.

billheese

there's a lot of negative press about benchmark on the forum... sorry to hear you're having so much trouble. you could send it back and ask for a refund... but it'll only continue the PITA factor.

Fenrir

I had a similar issue with my PSC bumper. I sprayed some black rustoleum on some plastic and used a brush to apply it. Worked great!

Sahara_Maverick

It's been many years since I specified powder coat finishing in products I designed. At that time it was cheaper to throw the parts away than to try to remove the paint and paint again. If done correctly (it requires underlayered pre-finishes), it is almost indestructible. A company cutting costs and not doing proper surface preparation would cause peeling, for example.

However, it would wear out against rocks. Now, this was eons ago (20+ years) and since I have not been close to this, cannot tell how things are today. But I imagine that there must have been improvements.

One thing I was thinking for those sliders, if looking nice is not a requirement, is using a CORTEN type steel. That alloy creates a passive film when exposed to air and does not keep rusting like standard steel does. It's commonly used in bridges and other framework. It does not have the pit corrosion issue that standard steel does. However, it would be really hard to paint and would always have a "rusted" look. Maybe could be used beneath a nice looking rail on the side of the Jeep. :-)

BadPunkin

If you still haven't mounted it, I would take it to Line-X and have them spray it. Their stuff is way better than powdercoating and lasts a long time. Just had my RR XHD, hoop, sway bar skid and Rubi rails sprayed. No more chipping for me, EVER!!

They will scuff up the powdercoat, but the Line-X goes right over it

Red Dog

If you need to strip the powder coat off yourself with this stuff I get at home depot. But it is an acid so you need eye protection and some good rubber gloves. You paint it on and the powder coat starts to bubble and then scrap it off. It is difficult to bead blast it without doing this first. You will save you self some $$ doing it yourself.